Poll: Christmas shoppers eyeing fewer toys

November 15, 2007|By Matt Andrejczak, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO - Early indications show that Americans are considering buying fewer toys this holiday season due to widespread product recalls, according to market researcher Harris Interactive. Harris said 33 percent of Americans said they will purchase fewer toys, while 45 percent will avoid buying toys manufactured in China, where 80 percent of toys sold in the U.S. are manufactured. The Rochester, N.Y.-based researcher, which conducted an online poll of 2,565 U.S. adults between Oct. 9 and Oct. 15, said its anecdotal data may not bear out. The results come a week before Thanksgiving, a time when most consumers start thinking about purchasing holiday gifts. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued its latest major toy recall Nov. 7, involving 4.2 million Aqua Dots, an arts and craft kit manufactured in China. The product contained beads with a toxic coating. “If parents were on the fence about buying Chinese-made toys prior to this recall, we believe many may be pushed over the edge by this one,” BMO Capital markets analyst Gerrick Johnson wrote Wednesday. Toy experts considered Aqua Dots, sold by Spin Master of Toronto, to be one of the hottest-selling toys this season. So far, major retailers are offering mixed statements about toy sales. No. 1 retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. cited toys as a weak product segment in its October sales figures, while Amazon.com said it anticipates one of its strongest-ever holiday seasons for toy sales. Toys Amazon expects to be holiday favorites include:

EyeClops Bionic Eye by Jakks Pacific Inc.

Hannah Montana: Music Jam (Nintendo DS) by Disney.

Barbie Girls by Mattel Inc.

Smart Cycle by Fisher-Price, a unit of Mattel. Johnson, who recently visited Wal-Mart, Target and Toys R Us stores in Connecticut, California and North Carolina, added that Transformer figures are selling well. The product is made by Hasbro Inc.